Migration, ethnicity, racism and the COVID-19 pandemic: A conference marking the launch of a new Global Society.

The inaugural conference of the Global Society on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health COVID-19 examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants and ethnic minorities and the role of racism. Migrants everywhere have faced tightening immigration restrictions, more obstacles to healthcare, increased racism and worsening poverty. Higher COVID-19 mortality rates have been otbserved in ethnic/racial minorities in the United Kingdom and the United States. Structural racism has been implicated, operating, for example, through more crowded living conditions and higher-risk occupations. In Brazil, good data are lacking but a seroprevalence survey suggested higher rates of infection among ethnic minorities and slum dwellers. Considerable disruption of services for migrants at the border with Venezuela have occurred. National policy responses to protect vulnerable groups have been lacking. In Australia, with strict COVID-19 control metrtrun 0asures and inclusive policies, there have been few cases and deaths reported in Indigenous communities so far. In most countries, the lack of COVID-19 data by ethnic/racial group or migrant status should be addressed. Otherwise, racism and consequent inequalities will go undetected.

Economic arguments in migrant health policymaking: proposing a research agenda.

Welfare states around the world restrict access to public healthcare for some migrant groups. Formal restrictions on migrants' healthcare access are often justified with economic arguments; for example, as a means to prevent excess costs and safeguard scarce resources. However, existing studies on the economics of migrant health policies suggest that restrictive policies increase rather than decrease costs. This evidence has largely been ignored in migration debates. Amplifying the relationship between welfare state transformations and the production of inequalities, the Covid-19 pandemic may fuel exclusionary rhetoric and politics; or it may serve as an impetus to reconsider the costs that one group's exclusion from health can entail for all members of society.The public health community has a responsibility to promote evidence-informed health policies that are ethically and economically sound, and to counter anti-migrant and racial discrimination (whether overt or masked with economic reasoning). Toward this end, we propose a research agenda which includes 1) the generation of a comprehensive body of evidence on economic aspects of migrant health policies, 2) the clarification of the role of economic arguments in migration debates, 3) (self-)critical reflection on the ethics and politics of the production of economic evidence, 4) the introduction of evidence into migrant health policymaking processes, and 5) the endorsement of inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. With the Covid-19 pandemic and surrounding events rendering the suggested research agenda more topical than ever, we invite individuals and groups to join forces toward a (self-)critical examination of economic arguments in migration and health, and in public health generally.